A systematic review and meta-analysis of the effect of transitional care interventions on the prognosis of patients with heart failure.

Background: The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of transitional care interventions on the prognosis of patients with heart failure. Methods: Literature on transitional care interventions in patients with heart failure were retrieved from PubMed, Medline, Embase, and CENTRAL databases. The literature retrieval date was October 12, 2021. The inclusion criteria were based on PICOS principles. A researcher independently extracted information from the literature included in the meta-analysis, including author, title, publication date, patient baseline information, intervention measures, and observation indicators. Two other researchers checked the extracted data. Cochrane bias risk assessment was used to evaluate the quality of the included study. The chi-square test was used for heterogeneity test. Egger test was used for publication bias test. Data were statistically analyzed using Cochrane software RevMan 5.3. The Chi-square test was used to assess heterogeneity. The odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were used to describe the count data statistically. Results: A total of 567 related articles were retrieved, and 18 studies were further screened for meta-analysis, 13 with low risk of overall bias, and 5 with high risk of overall bias. A total of 4,123 patients with heart failure were included, comprising 1,914 patients receiving transitional care interventions (46.42%) and 2,209 patients receiving routine care interventions (53.58%). The readmission rate of heart failure in patients receiving transitional care interventions was lower than that of patients receiving routine care interventions. There was heterogeneity among the literatures, and the source analysis of heterogeneity showed that the results were stable, and the random effect model was adopted without publication bias. The emergency visit rate of patients with heart failure receiving transitional care interventions was lower than that of patients receiving usual care interventions. There was no significant difference in mortality between patients receiving transitional care interventions and patients receiving usual care interventions. Discussion: Transitional care interventions can reduce the rate of patient readmission and emergency visits but have no significant impact on the mortality of patients. This study suggests the establishment of a transitional care intervention system for patients with heart failure.

Asymmetric Silica Nanoparticles with Tailored Spiky Coverage Derived from Silica-Polymer Cooperative Assembly for Enhanced Hemocompatibility and Gene Delivery.

Asymmetric mesoporous silica nanoparticles (AMSNs) with one side featuring a spiky nanotopography, while the other side is smooth and solid, were synthesized via an ethylenediamine (EDA)-directed silica-polymer cooperative assembly approach. By simply varying the EDA amount (x), AMSNs-x samples with adjustable spiky surface coverage were obtained. It is demonstrated that a spiky coverage higher than 50% improved the hemocompatibility of AMSN-x, possibly due to the reduced contact area of the smooth side exposed to the red blood cell (RBC) membrane. Moreover, AMSNs-175 and AMSNs-200 with high spiky coverage enhanced their plasmid DNA (pDNA) loading and binding capability, as well as cellular uptake into HEK-293T cells, thus resulting in high transfection performance. The good hemocompatibility and high performance in pDNA delivery of AMSNs-x with high spiky coverage allow them to serve as promising nonviral vectors for potential applications in gene therapies and DNA vaccines.

Formation of aluminum diphosphonate mesostructures: The effect of aluminum source.

Mesostructured aluminum phosphonates (AOP-x) bridging with 1,1'-hydroxyl ethylidene groups, including a lamellar mesostructure (AOP-N) with crystalline framework, a well-ordered 2D-hexagonal mesophase (AOP-Cl), and a particle-packed mesostructure (AOP-S), were simply synthesized in the presence of surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide in the ethanol-water system, by choosing Al(NO3)3, AlCl3 and Al2(SO4)3 as the aluminum source, respectively. The crystallinity, morphology, mesophase, and skeletal structure of the as-prepared materials were characterized by XRD, TEM, SEM, 27Al, 31P and 13C MAS NMR, and nitrogen sorption techniques. After calcination under N2 at 350 °C, the calcined AOP-x samples consist of aluminum phosphonate and phosphate, possessing desirable specific surface areas of 116-585 m2/g. The effect of the inorganic counteranions (NO3-, Cl- and SO42-) from the aluminum source on the formation of different AOP-x mesostructures was discussed in terms of their bind strength to the headgroups of the surfactant micelles, suggesting the potential for designed synthesis of non-silica-based mesostructured organic-inorganic hybrid materials.

MiR-10a improves hepatic fibrosis by regulating the TGFßl/Smads signal transduction pathway.

The aim of the present study was to examine the expression variation of the mouse hepatic fibrosis tissue transforming growth factor (TGF)-ßl/Smads signal transduction pathway and its correlation with progression of hepatic fibrosis. The promotion effect of microRNA (miR)-10a on hepatic fibrosis and its possible mechanism was also assessed. Forty healthy female 8-week-old C57BL6/J mice were randomly divided into the control group (intraperitoneal injection of 5 µl/g normal saline, twice per week for 8 weeks) and the hepatic fibrosis group (intraperitoneal injection of 5 µl/g 10% CCI4 olive oil, twice per week for 8 weeks), with 20 mice per group. RT-PCR was used to test miR-10a expression in cells in the control and hepatic fibrosis groups. Cell culture and transfection of miR-10a mimics were conducted in the two groups and a Cell Counting Kit-8 was used to test the expression of TGF-ß1 and Smad7 in hepatic fibroblasts. It was found that in comparison with the control group, miR-10a expression was significantly increased in the hepatic fibrosis group compared with the control group (P<0.05). The expression quantity of miR-10a was significantly increased in the transfection group compared with the control group (P<0.05). A high expression of miR-10a significantly improved TGF-ß1 expression and reduced Smad7 expression in the hepatic fibrosis group (P<0.05). In conclusion, miR-10a expression was high in mouse hepatic tissues, transfection of miR-10a mimics significantly promoted the cell proliferation of hepatic fibrosis, and miR-10a improved hepatic fibrosis by regulating the TGF-ßl/Smads signal transduction pathway.

Increasing the H+ exchange capacity of porous titanium phosphonate materials by protecting defective P-OH groups.

Hierarchically macro-/mesoporous titanium phosphonates with enlarged H(+) exchange capacity were synthesized in the presence of a series of alkyl amines that acted as protective groups for the defective P-OH, which were used as promising solid acid catalysts to replace conventional liquid acid catalysts and acidic resins in some acid-catalytic reactions.

Hierarchical mesostructured titanium phosphonates with unusual uniform lines of macropores.

Organic-inorganic hybrid materials of mesostructured titanium phosphonates with unusual uniform lines of macropores were synthesized by using bis(hexamethylenetriamine) penta(methylenephosphonic acid) (BHMTPMP) as the coupling molecule, through a one-pot hydrothermal process without any surfactant assistance. A wormhole-like mesostructure and many uniform parallel lines of macropores divided by solid ridges in the same direction were confirmed by N(2) sorption, SEM and TEM observations. This novel macropore architecture has never been observed in other metal phosphonate materials, which may be directly related to the structure nature of BHMTPMP with extra long alkyl chains. The structural characterization of FT-IR and MAS NMR revealed the integrity of organic groups inside the hybrid framework. The hybrid materials were also used as adsorbents for heavy metal ions and CO(2), in order to clarify the impacts of the organic contents and organic types on the physicochemical properties of the synthesized hierarchical macro-/mesoporous phosphonate materials.

Cubic mesoporous titanium phosphonates with multifunctionality.

Cubic mesoporous titanium phosphonate materials with bridged organic groups inside the framework were synthesized by means of a one-pot hydrothermal autoclaving process, with the assistance of cationic surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide. 1-Hydroxyethylidene-1,1-diphosphonic acid was used as the coupling molecule. A typical cubic mesophase with surface area of 1052 m(2) g(-1) and pore size of 2.6 nm was confirmed by XRD, TEM, and N(2) sorption analysis. The organophosphonate groups were homogeneously incorporated in the network of the mesoporous solids, as revealed by FTIR and magic-angle spinning (MAS) NMR spectroscopy, and thermogravimetry and differential scanning calorimetry (TG-DSC) measurements. The synthesized hydroxyethylidene-bridged cubic mesoporous titanium phosphonates proved to be thermally stable up to 350 degrees C, with a well-preserved hybrid framework and cubic mesoporous architecture. The obtained cubic mesophase could be transformed into a hexagonal mesophase by simply adjusting the molar ratios of the added raw materials, namely, a Ti/P molar ratio of 1:4 and a CTAB/Ti molar ratio of 1.9-2.3 for the cubic phase and Ti/P molar ratio of 3:4 and CTAB/Ti molar ratio of 0.1-0.4 for the hexagonal phase. The cubic hybrid materials could be used as efficient photocatalysts for the photodegradation of rhodamine B. Moreover, they were also used for adsorption of CO(2) and heavy metal ions and exhibited a significant capture amount of around 1.0 mmol g(-1) for CO(2) molecules at 35 degrees C and high adsorption capacity of 28.5 micromol g(-1) for Cu(2+) ions with good reusability, which demonstrated their promising potential in environmental remediation.

[A fluorospectrophotometric determination of nitrite in blood].

AIM: To establish a fluorospectrophotometric assay for the measurement of nitrite in blood. METHODS: Interference from hemoglobin and other blood ingredients was removed through sulfuric acid and phosphotungstic acid pretreatment. Fluorescence of 1-[H]-naphthotriazole from the reaction of 2,3-diaminonaphthalene with nitrite was determined with fluorospectrophotometry. RESULTS: The following conditions were proper: Serum or plasma was treated with sulfuric acid and phosphotungstic acid pretreatment for two times, 2,3-diaminonaphthalene of 0.63 mmol x (L(-1)) was used, reaction solution pH and final pH were about 1.60 and 1.70 respectively, solution containing 2,3-diaminonaphthalene and supernatant after pretreatment was water-bathed at 20 degrees C for 15 minutes. The lower limit of detection was 24.27 nmol x L(-1). Nitrite determined in peripheral blood of healthy people was (10.91 +/- 2.38) micromol x L(-1), and its 95% distribution range was (6.24-15.57) micromol x L(-1). CONCLUSION: It's a relatively sensitive, specific, simple method. It's of some value to the study of nitric oxide.